Commitment to Cubs pays off for Rothschild

Jeff Vorva

Sunday

Sep 30, 2007 at 12:01 AMSep 30, 2007 at 4:38 PM

When the Cubs invited Larry Rothschild back for another year after Dusty Baker and the rest of the 2006 coaching staff were whacked, some fans were outraged. Rothschild was even booed at the Cubs Convention earlier this year. But it’s been all worth it for him now that the Cubs have qualified for the postseason for the first time since 2003.

After Jim Leyland was hired to manage the Detroit Tigers before the 2006 season, Cubs pitching coach Larry Rothschild had a chance to join his pal in Detroit and ink a multiyear deal.

They would have been reunited for the first time since pairing up to help the Florida Marlins win the World Series in 1997. But Rothschild declined, signing a one-year deal with the Cubs for less money.

Detroit became the darling of baseball and a surprise entrant in the World Series in ’06, while the underachieving Cubs finished in last place. Two of Rothschild’s prize pupils, Kerry Wood and Mark Prior, again had numerous injury problems, and fans and media members torched Rothschild.

When the Cubs invited the former Homewood-Flossmoor High School standout back for another year after Dusty Baker and the rest of the 2006 coaching staff were whacked, some fans were outraged. Rothschild was even booed at the Cubs Convention earlier this year.

But it’s been all worth it for him now that the Cubs have qualified for the postseason for the first time since 2003. (The Tigers, by the way, will sit this one out.)

Still, it would be understandable if Rothschild had been banging his head on a wall and kicking himself last year for not accepting the Tigers gig.

“I’m human, so there were a few times when I thought, ‘What did you do?’” said Rothschild, who pitched in seven games for the Tigers over the 1981-82 seasons. “I thought it might not have been the greatest decision, but you step back and look back at the reasons you made it.”

Some of those reasons:

“Overall, I’m from Chicago, and you go to Wrigley Field and it’s a special place to go even though the times weren’t good,” he said. “I had been there in ’03 and a lot of ’04 when the times were good. I know what it could be and the possibilities.

“The one thing I’ve said all along is to get it done here (winning a World Series) would be as special -- the most special thing you could ever have in your sports life professionally. It’s such a unique situation. You can’t replicate it anywhere. It’s something that at the end of your days – it would be a great memory to have. That’s what you look at. It would be unbelievable for the city of Chicago. I kept my focus on that as much as I could.”

Rothschild, in his sixth season as Cubs pitching coach, lives in Tampa, Fla., during the offseason but is happy to spend his summers in Chicago. In recent weeks, he’s been able to tend to important family matters. And he enjoys keeping up with old friendships.

“I still have a lot of friends in the area,” he said. “I have some childhood friends who I am still close with and I stay in touch with. I love Chicago. If we didn’t have the kids settled in, we would move back here.”

During the offseason, he needed all the friends he could get. As the only holdover from a staff that had overseen two straight sub par seasons, he took some heat. But he chose to remember the good things about his career rather than let some bad seasons bring him down.

“Again, being human, I have some feelings about it -- you wouldn’t be human if you didn’t,” Rothschild said. “But people get frustrated. I understand the business end of it. I understand how it’s changed as well over the years.

“You have to understand that there are so many great things that happened to me in this game. When things aren’t great, it’s kind of ridiculous to focus on the fact that you’re getting criticized.

“I’ve got two World Series rings. For me to look at a losing season and say ‘Wow, how could I go through that?’ How many people have a chance to be in two World Series? I don’t care what happens to me throughout my career, I’ve been pretty fortunate. I really have been. It’s a wild ride, but it’s been a pretty good ride.”

In coming back this season, Rothschild was also reuniting with Cubs manager Lou Piniella. Rothschild was Cincinnati’s bullpen coach in 1990 when Piniella managed the Reds to the World Series crown.

Cubs general manager Jim Hendry defended the rehiring of the 53-year-old Rothschild all offseason, and the move has paid off.

This year, Rothschild has had a hand in helping change Jason Marquis from a 14-16 pitcher with a 6.02 ERA in 2006 to a hurler with a 12-8 mark and a 4.60 ERA. Carlos Zambrano’s 18 wins are a career high, and Ted Lilly (15-8, .652) had the best winning percentage of his big-league career.

“Larry’s been one of the best pitching coaches in baseball for a long time now,” Hendry said. “Jim Leyland offered him almost twice as much money to go to Detroit than to stay here. I give Larry a lot of credit for seeing it through and wanting to stay. He was never the root of any problem.

“It (criticism) comes with the territory. When it doesn’t go well, it’s easy to play ‘pile on.’ I’m happy for Larry because he hasn’t changed a bit.”

But the attitude on this staff has. If Rothschild indeed gets his wish to win it all in Chicago, having a staff of hard-nosed pitchers will have played a part.

“I like the whole grittiness of the staff,” Rothschild said. “I like that characteristic in players, especially pitchers. They battled each and every day, which as a coach, that’s a nice thing to have.”

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